Colchuck Balanced Rock, West Face - September 6, 2008

[singlepic=599,320,240,,right]The West face of Colchuck Balanced Rock rises like a tombstone from the slopes above Colchuck Lake.  The weather-beaten rock and crumbling, complex ridgelines of nearby Dragontail Peak stand in stark contrast to the sheer white face 2500 feet above the cold green water below.  Prominent on that face is a long, clean corner of perfect granite, capped by an enormous roof -- the crux pitch of the West Face route, the long obsession of BJ and a classic Cascade testpiece.